Love4Teas Tea Blog

Many people enjoy wine tasting, examining the key characteristics, tastes smells, exc. of wine. On the otherhand I and other tea enthusiasts enjoy tea tasting. There is such a great variety of teas and they all have different characteristics. For most inexperienced tea drinkers, almost all teas taste relatively similar. However, tea tasters identify tea based on the color and look of the unbrewed leaf, the aroma of the tea, the color of the tea, and last but not least, the taste.

When examining the unbrewed tea leaf, certain characteristics are desirable (although if the brewed tea tastes good, I guess it really doesn’t matter too much). Desirable characteristics for the tea leaf are usually a fresh and shiny look. If the leaf looks dull, it is most likely that the tea will taste dull and stale. It may take practice, but don’t worry, with some practice you will become a pro at examining these characteristics of the tea leaf.

When inspecting the aroma of the tea, just use common sense and your own particular judgment. If the tea has a fresh good smell, the tea is likely to be good.

Obviously the most critical part in examining a tea is the taste of the tea (because of course it is called tea tasting). But some instruction is crucial when one wants to get the full taste of the tea. When the tea enters your mouth, make sure to splash it through your whole mouth, touching all parts of the tongue. This is important because different parts of the tongue take in different types of taste, so you want your whole tongue to taste the tea so you can examine all parts of its flavor. For example, if you were drinking a darjeeling tea and it did not touch the front part of the tongue (where the sweetness sensor things are), then you would not even notice the characteristic sweet after taste of darjeeling tea.

So, follow these steps and you will soon be able to easily differentiate between the different types of teas. If you are a true tea enthusiast it is very important to learn how to properly taste and examine different types and brands of tea (considering there are sooo many!). But the most important thing, is to just enjoy tea. It is always fun to invite a tea enthusiast friend over for lunch and try some new teas.

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